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Monday, July 25, 2005

A Mistake?

Just talked to my wife. She had called up the developer (read my previous post here) to fix an appointment date to obtain our apartment keys.

As I had expected, the developer (from here onwards, anybody working in the company and dealing with us will be referred to as the developer) said that all the dates are fully booked till the 10th of august and we could only obtain our keys after that date. Stalling move? Of course, paying service charges for the two months even though nobody has moved in yet.

I also realized that we would be sharing the approach road with low cost apartments (construction still going on). Also realized that there won’t be enough parking spots for all the tenants. Fortunately, we already bought a covered parking space. (Yes! They are selling parking space).

I am seriously beginning to wonder whether we made a mistake in buying the apartment. Well, at that time it looked like a good investment – great location and reputable developer. I am not going to recommend this developer to any of our friends or family anymore.

The fact that my wife’s cousin had bought a condo at Puchong for almost the same price (RM180K++) didn’t help much. We had seriously considered buying a condo unit at the same place too but the location (Puchong) was not that attractive. However, as a condo, the plae is quite exclusive (more privacy) with free parking space. I was really amazed when I learnt that the condo comes broadband ready with internet connections in every room and other high tech features – example, remotely switching on/off house lights from your office.

i also bought an condo about 2 years ago. I got a problem with Citibank and it's quite hard because I am not in Msia. I wanted to advance my money first but the developer said there is no need to do that. And I was charged with the late payment fee. Tak guna tul. Nways, I think buyin' properties in Msia is a gamble. You cannot really predict whether you will be satisfied with the outcome. After this, I think if I would ever buy a property, I will buy it after it has been completed. Mahal sikit but at least you dun feel like "kena tipu". Sorry to hog your blog :)

It seems like the 'late payment fee' is considered normal as all that I have talked to were charged with this fee. The funny thing is that all of us accepted and paid it (not willingly). Things like this won't happen in countries like UK or even Australia where consumer rights are strong. I wonder what the various consumer groups like ERA consumer, CAP and FOMCA are doing.

is the situation that bad??? The Don and I are planning to buy a property in KL soon. we saw a few ads for places n Puchong but we're not sure how accessible it is. Thanks for telling us wat to watch out for Adam.

Hi Adam, found your blogs from lronglim.About late payment fees, I also kena and it is obviously not our fault. I was advised to make a report to the tribunal but make sure that you have all the nessecery documents such as payment schedule etc. The tribunal will decide whose fault it is, developer or bank or lawyer and asked them to pay. Sounds good but I have not done yet so dunno the outcome but my friend said once it involves tribunal, these people will follow the rule. We are supposed to receive the keys in Nov, and so far looks like we don't have much prob with the developer. They also notified us early about the late payment and claimed it was not their fault. But that also the tribunal will decide! Good luck and looking forward to any updates.